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New York Taxi Drivers To Strike Over GPS
Stony Stevenson notes a NYTimes story on labor unrest caused by high-tech privacy concerns. One organization of taxi drivers plans a 48-hour strike, while another opposes any such action. "One taxi group plans to strike from 5 a.m. Sept. 5, through 5 a.m. Sept. 7, in opposition to New York City's requirement that all cabs be equipped with GPS technology beginning Oct. 1... saying GPS infringes on drivers' privacy... The Taxi and Limousine Commission passed a rule stating that all New York City cabs must have touch-screen display panels, credit card readers, and GPS beginning this year. Many taxis already are equipped with the technologies, which allow passengers to get news, route data, and other information. The TLC claims that the technology will not be used to invade drivers' privacy but will provide real-time maps and help passengers recover lost property."
You beat me to the punch. I was thinking the same exact thing.
When I was in Korea (I'm in the Army right now) the drivers would take advantage of soldiers all the time. The language barrier didn't help. They'd drive halfway around Seoul and make 30,000 won (1,000 won is approximately a dollar) when the actual route should have cost about 10k won
Here's to the crazy ones
"The TLC claims that the technology will not be used to invade drivers' privacy but will provide real-time maps and help passengers recover lost property." While it may provide real-time maps and help passengers recover lost property, none of that means that it will not be used to invade drivers' privacy.
When the insurance companies force their customers to put GPS devices in their own personal vehicles, no one is up in arms, but put them in cabs and there's a strike.
Even though TFA is a bit vague, AFAICC, the GPS transmitter only works when they have a passenger and the passenger wants it to be on. If this is the case, this is a really pathetic excuse for a strike. Maybe the are worried the Commission will take away their licenses for using circuitous routes to defraud customers or something.
Joe Llywelyn Griffith Blakesley
[This post is in the public domain (copyright-free) unless otherwise stated]
I am a staunch libertarian and advocate for personal right to privacy, but there are no valid reasons for drivers to be concerned about their privacy in this scenario. Are airline pilots in danger of having their privacy violated because the aircraft's current trajectory and speed is logged? Effective fleet management and tracking is part of the industry you're working in, folks.
/Paranoid off
That said, I inherently don't trust government, and can start to see where the passenger's rights become threatened somewhat when the government's database starts linking credit card transactions with GPS records and begin constructing logs of people's travels. I mean, they are requiring cabs implement both at the same time.
When the industrial workers stuck their wooden shoes, or sabots, into the machinery that forced them to work without breaks.
Privacy is our birthright, no matter how many lies they give otherwise.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
I was just thinking the same thing, "so why are we doubling back on our path for the third time now?"
But then the cabbies would hate it any way you slice it. I imagine they get enough "back seat driving" now as it is. Can you just imagine how annoying it would have to be to argue with every third tourist why you are taking what appears to be an out-of-the-way route, when the cabbie knows traffic patterns and is avoiding a 45 minute rush-hour delay by dodging the turnpike?
In big cities, shortest != fastest, sometimes by a huge margin.
OTOH, properly implemented, this could be good for both. I for one would like a cabbie to explain to me the route he is taking, and why, so that next time I'm there and want to rent a car, I have a chance. Having something like google maps up on a panel in the back showing our position, start and end points, and the proposed google route would be really nice and would in itself be a reason to pick (particular cab company) when hailing. I would suggest they put this in maybe 1/3 of the cabs in a company, and plaster their cab with notices that they have this tech onboard. Some will avoid it, and some will use it exclusively. "Keep an eye on your ride with TechnoCAB!" You could have fun with it even, have those cabbies dress up like a guy from the Geek Squad. That would also attract a certain market, not everyone likes to ride in a "memories of India" cab with all sorts of bizarre stuff swinging from the rear view mirror and a cabbie that looks like the bum you just drove by.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
For those of you who don't see the boiling frog issue...
1:Taxi company installs GPS and charges with credit cards.
2:Taxi company stores credit card details of it's customers in huge database
3:Taxi company stores GPS data in huge database
4:NSA demand access to the last 10 years of data from the database.
5:The government now knows about every cab ride you have taken, within an accuracy of 1m - 10m, for the past 10 years.
It doesn't matter if the NSA does not have this authority today ( hint: they do ) the mere fact that data like this can be accumulated means that it will be, and that will at any latter point in time enable anybody with access to the database to tell where anybody they didn't like has gone for a cab ride.
Now, that was the taxi company. Now merge this data with the data from restaurants, face-recognition software on video tapes from old surveillance cameras... etc...
The problem isn't that they can know what cab rides you have been on. The problem is that before you know it they can know what cab,bus,airplane,train you were on, what restaurant you ate at, where you placed a call with your cellphone, which "security" camera you walked by, what stores you visited.. etc etc... Much of this data is already being collected, and as long as it is kept there is little to stop a future government from suddenly overturning all privacy laws and demand access to all this data at once. If ( i.e when/already ) they do this they will be able to reconstruct your entire life. Were you politically inconvenient? Well, what have we known, suddenly there are laws which punish you retroactively...
The scary bit is that I don't even have to come up with a conspiracy theory. The law already permits it. The NSA already has the taps running, and the legislation is already in place. Good game.
Rather than throw technology at the cabs, I'd prefer if they made it a requirement that NY taxi drivers spoke English and knew their way around the city, like the London ones do.
I had a taxi in Denver once give me a choice of the cheapest or the fastest from the airport to my destination. I took the cheapest so I could go through town and see the place. He said he asked so people wouldn't accuse him of ripping them off if he took the much faster but longer expressway around town.
No matter where you go, there you are.
An acquaintance of mine once regaled me of an anecdote of then the cabbies were on strike in NYC en masse. As it goes the traffic in manhattan was a dream, and that they should strike all the time.
I agreed with your "Bad Routes avoided" statement, up until it got to the statement where you say that the consumer will be in control. As if that were a good thing. In some instances, consumer control is good. However, in this and many other cases, consumer awareness is what is desired. I would like to know if the cabbie has just been driving in circles. I would like to know if there might be a different route to take. But that will impact my tipping and potential report to the BBB or some other consumer rights group, not make me empowered to make demands that we "turn left here."
I know that customers often think that they are right. They have read about new technology 'x' - and it needs to be a part of the development solution, now! They may well be dead wrong. They do not know about the pitfalls and implementation details. Similarly, a tourist might think that taking route 'x' through Manhattan will be the best way, while the driver knows about the construction projects, traffic jams, and other norms that are beyond the knowledge of an overly enthusiastic customer.
I've also had cabbies take a wrong turn, and admit it and not charge for it. Not all of them are bad people.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
If I were driving a cab and you were a passenger, I'd welcome your guidance as long as you pay for the whole route. I know that I can't possibly earn less than a fair fare (such as the fastest/cheapest route), and I also know that most passengers are not local and will not come up with an optimal route. As matter of fact, many would just become lost, on a one-way street, or on a highway, moving very fast *somewhere*, next exit ten miles :-) There are plenty of places where you can follow the map, approach an intersection and see the desired road 30 feet above you, with no ramp to get there :-) However you put it, passenger's guidance can only make me richer.
- The deal (for the GPS hardware and service) has been contraced to a vendor whose CEO is the President of the taxi garages' association.
- The association's Vice President for Business Development is the former First Deputy Commissioner of the TLC (NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission).
- The GPS vendor's Vice President of Operations is the TLC's former Deputy Commissioner of Safety and Emissions, the TLC officer in charge of all vehicle related issues.
No joke, look it up on google.I've had it happen, though only once in my own country. I arrived at the LA airport with a ton of luggage after a long trip, and I think the cabbie thought I was a new arrival by the way he was talking to me. I was clearly tired after a trans-pacific flight, and ready to fall asleep the moment I hit the seat, and I think he wanted to take advantage of that. I started to doze off, but couldn't help but notice that he was about to enter the freeway heading exactly the opposite direction of my house. I then woke up and told him to turn around, but even once we were heading the right direction he tried to make a million little pointless detours. As we got nearer I had to resort to giving him turn-by-turn directions, and when we got to my neighborhood he drove in a huge circle around a large park and school, missing two or three perfectly good turns. I've never paid more than $20 for a trip from the airport, even with bad traffic, but he had somehow driven it up to more than $30 with very little traffic. When he finally stopped, I got my luggage out on the sidewalk before paying him, and handed him a $20 bill without saying a word, but gave him a hard glare, praying inside that this would not turn into a scene. Thankfully he accepted it and drove away. I have paid much better attention to all my cabbies since then, but so far so good.
If only this were a free market, then people could decide for themselves. If GPS seems to add value then cabbies could install it, then charge higher rates to suit. But instead we have government coming and fixing prices and equipment, and suddenly a simple choice of equipment becomes a big public debate where a bunch of people are going to end up unhappy no matter what the outcome.